czechhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/4553/all
enCzech authorities asked to protect Roma from hostile protestorshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18715
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<p>The Czech authorities have been told to protect Roma communities from violence and intimidation, ahead of planned racist demonstrations.</p>
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<p>The Czech authorities must protect Roma communities from violence and intimidation, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) said ahead of planned anti-Roma demonstrations across the country.</p>
<p>The agency has been backed in its call by Amnesty International and other human rights bodies. </p>
<p>Far right groups are staging anti-Roma protests in up to 13 different Czech towns this weekend. </p>
<p>One demonstration is planned in the town of Vítkov. Here, in 2009, far-right supporters almost killed a two-year-old girl, Natalka, when they set fire to a house belonging to Roma. </p>
<p>“The government must ensure that these protests do not lead to violence against Roma communities, and that those at risk get the protection they need,” said John Dalhuisen , Europe and Central Asia Programme Director for Amnesty .</p>
<p>The ERRC has documented nine anti-Roma marches and rallies in the Czech Republic since April 2013, some of them in the same towns.</p>
<p>“The situation is extremely tense in the Czech Republic at the moment, with far right groups rapidly gaining in influence. Many Roma families and activists we talk to fear for their safety, in particular ahead of demonstrations like those planned tomorrow,” said Dezideriu Gergely, Executive Director of the ERRC.</p>
<p>The mother of two-year-old Natalka recently told ERRC: "We are afraid of further attacks. We cannot understand how the government allows them to march in this town, when everybody knows who they are. These marches will fuel more violence against us and we are afraid that more Roma families will be attacked." </p>
<p>There are between 150,000 and 300,000 Roma in the Czech Republic today, a community that has historically, and continues to be, subject to widespread discrimination, racism and prejudice. </p>
<p>Discrimination affects Roma in all aspects of society, including housing, health care and employment. The last years have seen an upsurge in violent attacks against Roma, with ERRC documenting at least 48 attacks between January 2008 and December 2012.</p>
<p>Recently, the Czech Intelligence Service (BIS) has raised serious concerns about the widespread anti-Roma atmosphere in the Czech Republic, while the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner has called on 1 August a working group meeting to deal with the situation.</p>
<p>In July this year, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concerns over the anti-Roma climate in Czech Republic - including discriminatory remarks against Roma made by politicians, in the media and at demonstrations by far-right groups.</p>
<p>“We have seen a deeply worrying trend over the past year with entrenched discrimination against Roma reaching new heights. This is a fundamental issue that the Czech authorities can’t ignore,” said Dalhuisen.</p>
<p>In July, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in respect of vigilante marches through Roma settlements in Hungary, that the right to peaceful assembly can be restricted where it is repeatedly exercised to intimidate local residents. </p>
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EqualityNews BriefczechCzech RepublicprotestsracismromatravellersWorld NewsSat, 03 Aug 2013 13:08:10 +0000agency reporter18715 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCzech government failing to address discrimination against Romani childrenhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17349
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<p>The European Roma Rights Centre and Amnesty International have published a report deeply critical of the Czech schools policy regarding Roma children.</p>
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<p>Romani children in the Czech Republic are still being denied the educational opportunities offered to other students five years after the European Court of Human Rights found the authorities guilty of discrimination, Amnesty International and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) said in a report published today.</p>
<p>“The Czech Republic’s education system is failing Romani children, with devastating consequences for their future. Thousands of Romani pupils are trapped in segregated schools which leaves them with few chances for further education and extremely limited options of finding work,” said Dezideriu Gergely the Executive Director of the European Roma Rights Centre.</p>
<p>”Unfortunately, many Romani pupils in Czech Republic today are reliving the experience of the applicants who lodged the complaint with the European Court more than a decade ago,” Gergely added.</p>
<p>Five more years of injustice: Segregated education for Roma in the Czech Republic provides evidence that Romani children continue to be over-represented in schools and classes designed for children with mild disabilities and Roma-only schools. The report exposes the shortcomings in the Czech educational system that excludes Romani children from integrated mainstream education.</p>
<p>“For five years now the government failed to address the problem. This inaction amounts to a serious ongoing breach of the government’s obligations. The right to education free from discrimination has been recognized in international human rights law since at least 1948. Despite this, and, despite the 2007 ruling from the European Court, Romani children continue to be denied the right to education,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.</p>
<p>In November 2007, the Czech Republic was condemned by the European Court for violating the right of Romani children to education free from discrimination by placing them in “special schools” for children with mental disabilities, which offered lower quality education.</p>
<p>“While the Czech government acknowledged the existence of segregation of Romani pupils in schools, so far it has not been able carry out its own plans and commitments to eradicate it,” said Dalhuisen.</p>
<p>“The Czech education system still allows pupils to be placed in 'practical' education too easily; which disproportionately affects Romani children who continue being overrepresented in this stream of education,” said Dezideriu Gergely from the ERRC.</p>
<p>The report by Amnesty International and the ERRC focuses on four schools in Ostrava which are known for being 'Roma-only'. The report is based on interviews with Romani parents and their children currently enrolled in the same schools as some of the applicants in the original case, D.H. v the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>Kristián is the brother of one of the applicants of the European Court case. When he was in the fourth grade of a mainstream (mostly non-Roma) elementary school he had problems coping with the curriculum. He was tested and diagnosed with a mild mental disability.</p>
<p>The psychologist told his mother that she should transfer Kristián to a practical school with reduced curriculum because “he was slow”. The psychologist, and the mainstream school did not offer measures to help such as individual support or after-school tutoring. His brother (a former applicant in the D.H. case, Julek) believes that Kristián is re-living his own experience, and is concerned about the impact this will have on Kristián’s future.</p>
<p>Maria’s children were also applicants in the D.H. case case. All four of her children attended a special school. She was not happy with the quality of education they received. “Children never brought their homework or books from the school. […] None of them finished secondary school and now they are all unemployed and dependent on social allowances.” When Maria’s granddaughter Laura reached school age, Maria wanted her to go to a mixed mainstream school: “I wanted Laura to go to school with white children so that she does not end up like my other four.”</p>
<p>“Without access to quality education Roma will not be able to escape poverty and marginalisation. Unless desegregation and the elimination of separate and unequal education is placed at the centre of the Czech educational policy the vicious circle of discrimination will continue,” said Dezideriu Gergely. </p>
<p>“The authorities must show political will to end school segregation immediately. For a start, they must implement the already existing National Action Plan on Inclusive Education and Strategy for Combating Social Exclusion and transform the current system of ‘practical schools’. They must also ensure that all their measures are in compliance with international and regional standards on education and non-discrimination,” said Dalhuisen.</p>
<p>The case of D.H. and Others v the Czech Republic was brought by 18 Roma students from the Ostrava region in the Czech Republic, who were represented by the European Roma Rights Centre. During 1996 and 1999 all applicants had been assigned to special schools for children with learning difficulties, where they received inferior education based on a diluted curriculum. In 2000 the applicants complained to the European Court of Human Rights arguing that their treatment amounted discrimination in violation of Article 14 in conjunction with Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights as their right to education had been denied.</p>
<p>In a decision in February 2006, the chamber of the Court stated that although the applicants had raised serious arguments, they did not amount to a violation of the Convention. Pursuant to an appeal filed by the applicants, on the Grand Chamber in a landmark decision ruled in favour of the applicants and found that the applicants had suffered discrimination when denied their right to education.</p>
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EqualityLiving EconomyNews BriefAmnesty Internationalchildrencivil rightsczechCzech RepublicromaWorld NewsSat, 10 Nov 2012 01:10:50 +0000agency reporter17349 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCzech churches welcome accord on seized propertieshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15295
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<p>An agreement has been made to allow Czech churches to reclaim property seized under communist, rule but give up receiving state subsidies.</p>
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<p>A prominent Czech ecumenist has welcomed an agreement that would allow churches to reclaim land and buildings seized under communist rule but give up receiving state subsidies - <em>writes Jonathan Luxmoore.</em></p>
<p>"The ball is now in the government's court to prepare the necessary legislation," said Joel Ruml, chairman of the Czech Ecumenical Council, adding that the legislation is expected to be introduced early next year.</p>
<p>The 58-year-old Protestant was speaking after the draft settlement was finalised in Prague on 25 August, allowing religious associations to retrieve assets confiscated after the 1948 communist takeover, while obtaining financial compensation for others.</p>
<p>In an ENInews interview, Ruml said the restitutions, expected to begin in January 2013, would particularly affect the Czech Republic's predominant Roman Catholic church, which lost the most under communist rule.</p>
<p>However, he added that all denominations would have to prepare for the gradual ending of state support in a country where clergy salaries have been paid by the state since the eighteenth century.</p>
<p>"Although we've dreamed for years of becoming free from the state, this will pose a great challenge," said Ruml, whose council groups 11 Christian denominations, with the Roman Catholic church holding associate membership. "Many church members are used to state support, and will need to be shown how this new situation offers opportunities for stabilising our position and opening society to our work."</p>
<p>He added that "being free from state financing will improve the churches' image - for the first time, we'll be able to say we don't receive any taxpayers' money." Ruml is a member of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. "Although it wasn't easy, it's an important ecumenical achievement that we could all agree on how our interests were best protected."</p>
<p>The fate of thousands of church lands and properties seized in the 1940s and 1950s, some later sold to private owners, has been a point of dispute since communist rule was overthrown in the 1989 "Velvet Revolution," and a previous church-state accord on the issue was blocked by some legislators in June 2008.</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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Beliefs and ValuesLiving EconomyNews BriefcommunistczechCzech RepublicWorld NewsSun, 28 Aug 2011 08:36:55 +0000ENInews15295 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukVictory for Czech peace protesters over US military radarhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9000
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<p>In a setback for Pentagon plans to install a US military radar base in the Czech Republic, the government has withdrawn its proposal to ratify an agreement on the base after loud protests.</p>
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<p>In a major setback for Pentagon plans to install a US military radar base in the Czech Republic, the Czech government has withdrawn its proposal to ratify an agreement on the base after loud protests. </p>
<p>Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek halted the ratification process when it appeared that the Chamber of Deputies was likely to vote to reject the agreement. It is not yet clear whether this is a permanent or temporary move. </p>
<p>According to Jana Glivicka, a leader of the grassroots 'No Bases Initiative', which has been active in opposing the radar for more than two years, this was a significant retreat, since the radar has been promoted as one of the key accomplishments of the current government.</p>
<p>Two thirds of Czechs have consistently opposed the radar ever since it was first proposed in 2006. Anti-radar activists have repeatedly called for a referendum on the issue, but have been rebuffed. Meanwhile, the Czech government signed an agreement with the United States in 2008 to proceed with the installation of the radar and the Czech Senate approved the accord. </p>
<p>However, the agreement could not be implemented until the Czech Chamber of Deputies ratified it. Thanks to the tireless activities of anti-radar groups in the country, the No Bases Initiative and the Nonviolence Movement, popular opinion remained strongly mobilized against the radar. This public opposition seems likely to culminate in a “no” vote in the Chamber.</p>
<p>The anti-radar movement has drawn support from around the world from people alarmed by the dangerous military escalation of the proposed European 'missile defence' program of the Czech radar and its companion Interceptor missiles in Poland. </p>
<p>Since November 2007, the Campaign for Peace and Democracy in the United States has supported the movement with public statements, letters published in The New York Times and The New York Review of Books, visits to the Czech Mission to the United Nations, demonstrations, a hunger strike, and, over the past weekend, an open letter to members of the Czech Chamber of Deputies signed by more than 550 people in less than 48 hours.</p>
<p>The CPD open letter was sent on Monday March 16 to all 200 member of the Chamber of Deputies. A Deputy planned to read the letter aloud from the floor of the Chamber if the ratification came up for a vote, Signatories included [public figures such as] Noam Chomsky, Ariel Dorfman and leaders of many major US peace organizations. </p>
<p>Most signatories were from the US, but there were some from the international community including the Polish intellectual Adam Chmielewski, Iranian human rights activists, and a number of individuals from the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries. The text of the letter and list of signatories are available at the CPD website, <a href="http://www.cpdweb.org" title="www.cpdweb.org">www.cpdweb.org</a></p>
<p>Czech Prime Minister Topolanek said that the government has not abandoned its plan for the radar. "This does not mean we would give up on the ratification process," he said in a live television address. "We will return to this issue after talks with the US administration and after the NATO summit in Strasbourg and Kehl." </p>
<p>It is by no means clear if the government will in fact reintroduce the radar for a vote after the NATO summit in early April 2009. In any event, anti-radar activists in the Czech Republic and their international supporters are committed to continuing their campaign until such time as the proposal to install the radar is decisively and permanently withdrawn.</p>
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Peace and NonviolenceNews Briefczechmilitary hardwarepeace protestWorld NewsFri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:24 +0000agency reporter9000 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCzech churches become financially distinct from statehttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6218
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<p>The Czech government has agreed, after almost two decades of dispute, to compensate churches for properties confiscated under communist rule, and also to make them financially independent from the state. The details are being sorted.</p>
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<p>The Czech government has agreed, after almost two decades of dispute, to compensate churches for properties confiscated under communist rule, and also to make them financially independent from the state - <em>writes Jonathan Luxmoore</em>.</p>
<p>"There's a common desire now to solve these problems; what remains are the specific conditions," said Jiri Grecka, spokesperson for the Roman Catholic bishops' conference in the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>"If this proposal goes ahead, it will show the state is genuinely willing to co-operate with us and see justice is done for past abuses," Grecka stated. "This will signal a new era."</p>
<p>The government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has said it will bring a draft law before parliament in December to deal with the issue of the confiscated properties.</p>
<p>Under the agreement reached by church and government negotiators, communist-seized properties will be returned to religious orders, and compensation totalling 83 billion Czech crowns (US$4.5 billion) will be paid over a period of 70 years to dioceses and parishes.</p>
<p>Direct state payments to churches, including clergy salaries, will be reduced annually over the next decade, and finally end in 2018.</p>
<p>Grecka told Ecumenical News International the agreement would mainly affect the Catholic Church, which owned 95 percent of properties seized after the 1948 imposition of communist rule.</p>
<p>"Public opinion has been against paying compensation, since people don't see why churches needed property in the first place," Grecka said. "It may be more positive when it realises this proposal would finally make the churches independent, and end their need for state money."</p>
<p>Zuzana Dvorakova, the general secretary of the Czech Ecumenical Council, which groups 11 non-Catholic denominations, said it was unclear whether the proposal would gain approval in parliament, where Social Democrat and former communist lawmakers have previously vigorously opposed draft laws to settle church property issues.</p>
<p>Still, Dvorakova noted, "This is the most important attempt to solve the problem in recent years".</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENI. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">Ecumenical News International</a> is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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Beliefs and ValuesNews BriefchurchescommunismcompensationczechmoneyWorld NewsTue, 13 Nov 2007 07:27:08 +0000Ecumenical News International6218 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk